Lace, Ladybug, Lemon Curd/Butter Microwave Recipe

I had to show you this fabulous old lace tabletopper! I just took some pictures of it for Ebay and thought I'd show it here as it's one of those pieces you rarely see........a real antique piece of battenburg/tapelace...All handmade, old, with some breaks, but these pieces give me palpitations when I spot them at a sale, even with some damage. You just don't see them anymore! ...and you must know by now, I LOVE LACE!

We got a teensy bit of snow on the weekend, it's pretty well gone now, but Kiera was over for a visit, saw the snow on the deck outside the patio door, promptly removed her shows and socks and carefully stepped out and made these footprints!....what a girl!!

I shooed her back inside for her shoes and socks and jacket and she spent a few minutes out there making a few snowballs and making more prints and handwriting in the snow.

As for the ladybug? Well, I went to the garage for some potatoes and there she was atop a potato in the pail. Brought her in and perched her on a little potato in a dish so I could take her picture. She has since disappeared in my kitchen and I hope she winters well.
Now for a recipe that a girlfriend swears by for

Microwave Lemon Curd (lemon butter)

3 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1tbsp grated lemon rind [I put more]

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

2tbsp soft butter

In microwaveable bowl, whisk together eggs & sugar. whisk in lemon rind & juice & butter.

Microwave on high for 2 minutes, whisk until smooth.
Microwave for 2 to 3 minutes longer until it boils & thickens slightly.

Whisk again until smooth.
Cool, pour into jars & refridgerate.

I sterilise the jars & it will keep for several weeks. If it lasts.

Great on toast, in tart shells or on icecream.

I can't wait to make it but will make it after Christmas when we're in Arizona and I have TIME, and luscious fresh off the tree lemons are  a dime a dozen!! Off to make dinner, have a good week, hope I'll be back here before the week ends!

Apple Muffins Recipe

I found this recipe for apple muffins  in an old Betty Crocker cookbook. They were quite tasty and quick to

make. I've been hunting for different apple related recipes since I have quite a few from the tree that I'd like to use up.

I used more cinnamon than called for, probably triple, as we like lots of cinnamon with our apples!

1 egg, 1/2 cup milk, 1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups sifted flour (I never sift)

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup grated apple

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease bottom of muffin cups or use paper baking cups. Beat egg slightly with fork. Stir in milk and oil and grated apple. Sift dry ingredients together and stir in just until flour is moistened. Batter should be lumpy. Do not overmix. Fill greased muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 12 medium muffins.

Topping to be sprinkled on before baking.

Mix 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup broken nuts (I omitted nuts) and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

I found these tasted even better on the second day.

Flashback! Jelly Roll! Mom's recipes

My sister, Marilyn, emailed me last night. My brother Jeff, who lives in British Columbia, wanted to know if we had mom's cook books and could find the recipe for jelly roll. I haven't had homemade jelly roll since mom used to make it! I remember she made it fairly often and I can see her now, rolling it up in a damp towel!

I have my mom's cookbooks. When we cleaned out her apartment (she's in a nursing home now), I ended up with them. I've looked through them for fun many times, and now and then for a special recipe. Of course the best one is the smaller size 3 ring binder that she covered in 60's mactac and glued in a zillion recipes that she had clipped from newspapers and the handwritten ones she had gathered over the years.

The ones in the above picture are all handwritten by her, except for the Lemon Butter. Definitely not her handwriting, and looks pretty old. As is the jelly roll recipe! The paper is starting to disintegrate!

Click to enlarge the first picture above and you'll see bits of some of the recipes like "Pate Christmas 1974". We called it "potty", lol, always did! On that page are several "potty" recipes, the basic ingredients but changed up a bit. My mom and dad were trying to duplicate from my dad's memory, the taste of this spicy meat pie that they used to have each year at Christmas, usually after midnight mass, when he was growing up on the farm. You'll also see a recipe for butter tarts which has written below it and crossed out: "I owe Vera 2 bus tickets".....Vera is her sister.

Mom never made anything without a recipe! Unlike me......unless it's baking (which I seldom do!)

I'm going to have to make a jelly roll once fall sets in and there is more time! (How can you tell, I'm not a baker?)Meanwhile I'll give you the recipe here, if you want to try it. It's delicious!

Mom's Jelly Roll

Beat 5 eggs and add 1 cup sugar, 1tsp. vanilla.

Then add: 1 cup flour, 1 tsp. baking powder.

Bake 10 - 12 minutes in 375 degree F oven.

Proceed as for jelly roll. Ha ha ha, only kidding, but there are a few people reading this that will find that line funny....... private joke!

OK.............well, the written recipe becomes vague. It says:

When cooked roll in a damp towel, spread with jelly & roll........which won't make alot of sense to you, so I've googled and found a recipe with decent directions and am just going to paste it here for you.......just the directions. You can use jam or jelly or whatever you like when you make it. Also, I'm sure she was just using a regular cookie sheet that had sides to it, maybe not 1" but close. Also wondering if she just didn't heavily grease the pan with margarine??

Heat oven to 375°. Line jelly roll pan, 15 1/2 × 101/2 × 1 inch, with cooking parchment paper, aluminum foil or waxed paper; generously grease foil or waxed paper. Beat eggs in small bowl with electric mixer on high speed about 5 minutes or until very thick and lemon colored. Pour eggs into medium bowl. Gradually beat in granulated sugar vanilla on low speed. Gradually add flour and baking powder, beating just until batter is smooth. Pour into pan, spreading to corners.
Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately loosen cake from edges of pan and turn upside down onto towel generously sprinkled with powdered sugar. Carefully remove paper. Trim off stiff edges of cake if necessary. While hot, carefully roll cake and towel from narrow end. Cool on wire rack at least 30 minutes.
Unroll cake and remove towel. Beat jelly slightly with fork to soften; spread over cake. Roll up cake. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.